President of Serbia: NATO bombings in 1999 an unprecedented crime

NATO bombing Yugoslavia with depleted uranium bombs is an unprecedented crime, claimed Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on May 13 at the opening of a new Cancer Institute, TASS reported.

“Today in the Cancer Institute I learned that, unfortunately, the number of children with cancer here is growing. I will be candid: I have never fully believed in all our theories about depleted uranium, that it’s the fault of those who had been destroying and bombing this country back in 1999. But today in a conversation with doctors I realized that, of course, there are many factors of cancer growth among children, but depleted uranium is exactly one of them, as it is most often recorded with children whose parents were born around 1990“, the Serbian President said in his speech.

Vučić also promised that Serbia will address this issue at the state level. “This is an unprecedented crime, and we, as a country, will look into the matter very seriously,” he said and mentioned that all doctors believe that the bombings lead to significant consequences.

The bombing of Serbia, which was then a part of Yugoslavia, was conducted without the sanction of the UN Security Council in 1999 during NATO military operation officially called a humanitarian intervention. According to the Serbian side, bombings claimed the lives of 3.5 to 4 thousand people, and about 10 thousand people were wounded. Also, according to the UN, 821 people were reported missing.

At the same time on April 19, Aleksandar Vučić stated that Serbia’s neutral status does not hinder from cooperation with NATO, which is confirmed by regular joint drills with the North Atlantic Alliance.

However, despite close cooperation with NATO, on April 3 the Serbian Defense Minister informed that an agreement was reached with Russia on the supply of combat and transport helicopters, as well as the planned supply of fighter jets, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other types of weapons. According to the minister, the supply is conducted in the framework of the rearmament of the Serbian army in order to “always be prepared for the worst scenario.”